Client: International Fund for Agricultural Development/ Food and Agriculture Organisation
Farming Systems Advisor: Liz Kiff (NRgroup).
The Northern Region Growth Project builds on the success and lessons learnt from the earlier Upper West Agricultural Development and Upper East Land Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation Projects in Ghana. The consultant, Liz Kiff, was previously extension and marketing specialist in evaluation of the previous projects in 2005.
The Northern Region Growth Project is designed to stimulate poverty-reducing growth by:
(i) Developing commodity and food chains linking production in the north with domestic urban markets in the south and centre as well as to sub-regional and international markets;
(ii) Promoting environmentally-sustainable management of natural resources especially in rainfed agriculture in order to improve productivity and sustainability;
(iii) Promoting small-scale community-owned rural, market and water management infrastructures as well as privately-owned irrigation systems in order to reduce prevalence of seasonal hunger and the erratic character of food production and to increase agricultural productivity and marketing potential;
(iv) Providing farmers, herders and fishermen with access to working capital, inputs and production equipment; and
(v) Improving the capacity of the economically-active rural poor and their organizations to manage their activities.
